Our journey
to sustainability
Our clothings are produced with passion to respect both human and the planet
From the very start of founding our company, our mission has always been to create high quality apparel in the most sustainable, responsible and ethical way we possibly can. Our intention is to integrate sustainability into everything we do and to make deliberate decisions about who we work with, how we work and what materials we use.
We are committed to ensuring that our partners are protecting ethical, humane and lawful conditions and practices for workers in all their facilities.
Our goal is to be engaged at every step of our supply chain, building long-term relationships with our partners and having an innovative company culture that drives us to work even harder. The only way is to go forward and to make real difference in sustainable fashion.
It all starts from the fields
Before the final product, the path from the field has to overcome many complex steps, from organic cotton farms in India to our finished end products printed in Helsinki, Finland. Our aim is to achieve these steps in the most sustainable and responsible way for the end product to be produced here in Helsinki.
Only Organic Cotton and recycled materials!
At Afect Clothing, we only use organic cotton and recycled materials. By choosing organic cotton, it minimizes the amount of water used in crop production. We only work with suppliers that source only the best raw materials and are producing in ways that do not harm people, animals or the environment. We are committed to ensuring that our partners are protecting ethical, humane and lawful conditions and practices of their workers in all their facilities.
All our garments are produced by Stanley & Stella. Their materials are 100% GOTS certified organic cotton from India, recycled polyester from China and other sustainable materials such as Modal®. For us, it is the most important to have a sustainable future and that our suppliers and partners share this agenda. This is why we have chosen products from Stanley & Stella.
Why choose 100% organic cotton
91% less water
Worldwide, most organic cotton is grown on rain-fed farms – meaning there is no
irrigation. The soil is healthy and holds water 50% better than conventional soil. The
water used in growing organic cotton is 91% lower than that of conventional cotton.
0% pesticides and fertilizers
It takes 400 grams of raw cotton to make one t-shirt. One conventional t-shirt contains 165 grams of pesticides and fertilizers. Garments produced with organic cotton contain zero pesticides and fertilizers and have a positive impact on almost 220,000 farmers, their families and your skin.
46% less CO2 emissions
Growing organic cotton saves 46% CO₂ compared to conventional cotton.
On-demand
We produce our products with an on-demand method. We chose this method to decrease our garment waste, to lower carbon footprint in our production cycle and to put a stop to fast fashion. But what does ‘’on-demand’’ mean? It means that we only print our products after an order has been made. We then contact our partner in Helsinki, Finland to print our design onto the garment ordered. By choosing this method, we are not overproducing any of our apparel. We do this to save natural resources and to stop fast fashion.
Orders that have been placed during Monday 12 a.m. to Sunday 11:59 p.m. (UTC +2) will be made on the following week and shipped on the next week's Monday.
Our apparel certifications prove our commitment
All our products have been certified by the best by numerous independent bodies and standards. We are not only saying we are sustainable. Our products have the certificates to prove it by the world's leading bodies. Every certificate granted to our products demonstrates our commitment to choose best possible options for sustainability, ethicality and environment in mind. Our apparel certifications
Every step of our process has been checked
We have only selected companies that manufacture quality products and are providing a safe and healthy working environment, protecting the welfare and integrity of all their employees. We are highly committed to sheltering and improving the quality for those who are working with and manufacturing our products.
Our clothing supplier has a leader status in the Fair Wear certificate (FWF). All our
manufacturers have their own Code of Conduct, all follow the rules of UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Fair Labor Association (FLA). We promote ethical, humane and lawful conditions and practices in all our manufacturing partners facilities.
The Code of Conducts follow the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which is generally agreed to be the foundation of International Human Rights Law. Code of Conduct consist of, for example, the following subjects: no child labour, no forced labour, wages have to be at least minimum wage, no more than 60h work per week (after that 24h sleep must be conducted), no discrimination, no harassment or abuse, health care must be provided to all workers, environment laws have to be followed, and human rights laws and policies have to be followed.
Our partners work very closely with the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF). Every factory is
monitored, supervised and visited by parent companies, national governments and
international agencies in both monthly and daily visits. Read more about FairWear
We know where our products are being made
The word transparency is what we want to be associated with. Consumers need to know what they are buying, where was it made, and by who. This is why we publish all the factories and their contact details. At this moment, our partners have 5 different factories. One in Finland and four in Bangladesh. Apart from Finland, why we choose to work with risk countries like Bangladesh is because we want to be part of changing the whole garment industry, and changing the working environment in these countries. After almost endless research, we selected to work with Stanley & Stella, whose garment factories are in Bangladesh. Stanley & Stella are the best possible option and leader in sustainable manufacturing.
It is our responsibility to make the ‘right’ ethical and sustainable decisions. We want to offer these workers salaries and working habitat that they deserve and should have always had. We sincerely hope this will inspire others to do the same. Only actions can make a change. This is why we choose to work with Stanley & Stella. They have the same values of ethical, human and sustainable working methods.
Finland:
Print Helsinki
Sandelsinkatu 8, 00260 Helsinki. www.printhelsinki.fi.
Product printing
Bangladesh:
Ahsan
Chandar, Kaliakoir Gazipur-1740.
T-Shirts, Long Sleeve, Hoodie, Sweatshirt
Certifications: GOTS, OCS, OEKO-TEX
Dird
Rajendrapur, Sreepur, Gazipur-1740.
T-Shirts, Long Sleeve, Hoodie, Sweatshirt
(Certifications: GOTS, OCS, OEKO-TEX, GRS)
Interstoff
Chandar, Kaliakoir Gazipur-1740.
T-Shirts, Long Sleeve, Hoodie, Sweatshirt
Certifications: GOTS, OCS, OEKO-TEX
Meghna
Gilarchala, Shreepur, Gazipur-1740.
T-Shirts, Long Sleeve, Hoodie, Sweatshirt
Certifications: GOTS, OCS, OEKO-TEX
Environmental impact is been monitored
Our partners collect data across their supply chains, which means we are well aware of the environmental impact of our business. Our selected manufacturing partners invest in a sustainable future. All our partner factories are equipped with state-of-the art Effluent Treatment Plants, which remove toxic elements from the water and ensure it’s safe to be reused. All our clothing manufacturing partners use naturally occurring waters and renewable energy in their manufacturing process. They are recycling their waste waters and are using more and more recycled materials from fabrics and plastics. All of the fabric waste is collected and recycled. We use recycled packaging materials.
Our average manufacturing footprint per garment piece:
0,32 Energy consumption. (kWh/ garment piece)
24,5 Water consumption. (litres / garment piece)
0,27 CO2 emissions. (kg / garment piece)
We are trying to lead the way in sustainable fashion
We are never satisfied with our environmental impact. We know there are always better and more sustainable ways to produce clothing and to be more effective in the process. As a company, we want to inspire change in the whole company culture. This is why we are constantly seeking new and better ways to lower our environmental impact. A sustainable future is only achievable if we work hard towards it. We do this because we want to be the best in what we do and out of love of people and the planet.
Our future
Our dream and our goal is to produce our products entirely by ourselves, in any our own factories, without any subcontractors here in Finland. The materials we are going to use are only recycled and sustainable. The plan is to have our own factory in Finland, where we produce our products by ourselves.
We continue to make constant progress in preserving the environment as best as we can in all of our processes. The conditions to nature depends on our actions and this is why we try to be as sustainable as possible. We are only going to choose the best sustainable materials and produce our products with renewable energy without any harmful chemicals. We want our whole supply chain to be sustainable and controlled fully by us. This is the only way to ensure our business is done in a sustainable way as we see best.
If you have any more questions about this important subject, don't hesitate to email us at contact@afectlothing.com.
